Day 16: Travel to Laos (Saturday, July 12)

After breakfast, Viv rushed to fit in a massage at a spa we saw by Cantina Central the previous night. Matt checked out a few more stores by the hotel before returning to the room to pack everything up. We met up again for an early lunch at the “best bakery” in town, according to our concierge. This was important, since to this point we had been consistently disappointed with the bread and baked goods. We had high expectations given the large French influence, but most places came up just a little short. Luckily, our concierge did not disappoint and the bread was fantastic. We grabbed three different banh mi (sandwiches) and returned our room to eat and then go to the airport. The banh mi were all delicious, especially the BBQ version. At $1 each, this was one of the best deals of the trip.

With the main portion of our time in Vietnam coming to an end, it’s a great time to reflect on our experience here. Overall, it has been a fantastic time with relatively few disappointments. The food has been really, really great, and we’ve been able to learn a lot about the history and culture, as well as have some fun in the outdoors. Some thoughts…
- The traffic really is insane. not because there’s so much of it, like in Bangkok, but because there are no rules whatsoever. just cross the street… all those motorbikes will find a way around you – trust us.
- Coke and Pepsi are everywhere, but the fast food chains are not. This was actually pretty refreshing… no McDonald’s, no Starbucks. There were a few KFCs, but that’s about it.
- While Coke and Pepsi are everywhere, Diet Pepsi is disgusting. It has a serious fruit juice flavor in Vietnam, not unlike Dr. Pepper in Britain (people that work at Pepsi… what’s up with this?).
- The international brands dominate in water too - Coke (Joy), Pepsi (Aquafina) and Nestle (?). We only saw a couple of Vietnamese brands the whole time. But of the three, Aquafina has captured our hearts here. Not because of the water itself but because of the packaging. The Coke and Nestle bottles are so thin (have to downgauge to save money!) that they are nearly impossible to open if wet or if your hands are wet. And even if you start to get it open, you almost always lose water in the process.
- What’s up with the 2 hour break for lunch at all the museums?
- The outdoor activities (hiking in Sapa and Cat Tien) have been truly fantastic. If you come to Vietnam, take the time to get of the cities
- Why must every question be answered with “yes”? Even if the answer is actually “no”! They’ve gotten the polite part of customer service down, but they could use some work on effective – and this is the case even at some of the nicest hotels in the country (Sheraton Hanoi, I’m looking at you)

We’ll be back in Vietnam in a week and a half to check out the beach scene at Phu Quoc, but until then we’re off to Laos and Cambodia. The travel to Laos was relatively uneventful even though we couldn’t check through, so we had to claim our bags in Hanoi and then find the international departures terminal and re-check in for the next flight. We thought we were flying Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi to Luang Prabang, but it turned out to be a codeshare flight operated by Laos Airlines. Yes, the “You’re Safe With Us” Laos Airlines. Seriously, what kind of slogan is that for an airline? Luckily, we were flying on an ATR-72, not the Chinese-made X12. Apparently, all of their crashes have occurred on X12s in the rain. And yes, it was raining in Luang Prabang when we landed, but hey, we’re safe! Actually, it was probably our smoothest flight yet. Props to Laos Airlines.

Laos won its first points over Vietnam when we got to Luang Prabang. In Vietnam when you walk out of the airport, you are immediately bombarded by scores of taxi and tuk tuk drivers trying to get your attention and take you bags to lead you to their vehicle. There may be an official taxi stand, but even then you never know if the meter is going to work or going to be rigged. It’s not a serious problem, but it’s definitely annoying. In Laos, by contrast, you walk to a counter, tell the staff where you’re headed and then they hand you a ticket and match you with a driver; and it’s a fixed price from the airport to town. Here’s a picture of our room at the 3 Nagas hotel.